WAVERLY, Iowa – The St. Olaf College volleyball team split a pair of matches both decided by 15-13 scores in the fifth set to open the Wartburg Invitational on Friday evening, downing Coe College before falling to Wartburg College at Levick Arena.

St. Olaf (9-3) opened the tournament by getting past Coe (7-4) by a 18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13 margin before seeing its bid for a reverse sweep come up a few points short in a 25-21, 25-10, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13 loss to Wartburg (6-4). The win over the Kohawks extended the Oles' winning streak to eight matches before the Knights brought the streak to an end.

On day two of the tournament, St. Olaf will face its third American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) foe of the weekend when it matches up with Simpson College for the second time this season at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21. The Oles swept the Storm at the Falcon Invite on Sept. 7.

St. Olaf 3, Coe 2 | Box Score

Sophomore Lilah Van Scoyoc, sophomore Maren Miller, senior Maycie Rogers, and first year Carlie Beckstrand were all in double figures in kills for St. Olaf, which claimed its second win over Coe in the nine meetings between the two programs. The Oles hit over .300 in each of the three sets they won in the fourth five-setter in the last five matchups in the series.

Van Scoyoc tallied a career-high 17 kills and added 12 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Miller collected 13 kills with a .435 attack percentage. Rogers and Beckstrand added 12 kills apiece, with Beckstrand hitting .440 in the win. Miller was one of four Oles with multiple aces, as she, senior Kathryn Deist, Ryan, and sophomore Skylar Fildew combined for all of St. Olaf's 10 aces.

Ryan – the reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Volleyball Specialist of the Week – recorded a match-high 26 digs, while Fildew joined Ryan and Van Scoyoc in double figures with 11 to go with 27 assists in a double-double. Junior Paige Christophersen handed out 31 assists.

Coe broke open the first set with a 6-0 run midway through the put the Kohawks on top by eight at 20-12. St. Olaf cut a 10-point deficit to six with a 4-0 run before Coe closed out the set on a kill by Maggie Furlong, who had a match-high 20 kills and hit .545 for the Kohawks.

After hitting .167 in the opening set, St. Olaf hit .324 in the second and .348 in the third to win both sets by identical 25-23 margins. The Oles trailed 7-1 early in the second and were down 21-19 before closing the set on a 6-2 run that included back-to-back kills by junior Dori Hobbie. St. Olaf started the third set on a 6-1 run and led the rest of the way, although the Kohawks cut a six-point deficit to one at 23-22 before Miller delivered kills on two of the final three points of the set.

Coe pushed the match to a decider by holding off a late St. Olaf push in the fourth. In the fifth, both teams hit an even .500 with just one attack error apiece, but the Oles got out to a 7-4 lead and held on. Fildew provided two aces to help St. Olaf to the 7-4 lead before Coe climbed even at 9-9. The Oles opened up a 13-10 lead on consecutive kills by first year Mehsa Krause and eventually closed it out on Van Scoyoc's 17th kill of the match.

Wartburg 3, St. Olaf 2 | Box Score

Wartburg won the first two sets, including a convincing 25-10 win in the second, to take a 2-0 lead, but St. Olaf battled back by winning the third and fourth to force a decider. In the fifth, the Oles overcame an 11-8 deficit to tie the set at 11-11 and 12-12 before the Knights finished off the victory.

Krause led St. Olaf with 12 kills and hit .276 in the match, while Van Scoyoc added another double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs. Miller compiled 10 kills to put three Oles in double figures. Ryan made a career-high 37 digs in the loss, while Deist had a career-high 20. Christophersen and Fildew both collected double-doubles with 29 assists and 12 digs and 17 assists and 11 digs, respectively.

The Oles held a 6-2 lead early in the first set and led 18-16 before the Knights rallied late in the set to take it by a 25-21 margin. St. Olaf won the first two points of the second set but just eight the rest of the way, as Wartburg cruised to a 2-0 lead.

In the third, St. Olaf opened up a 23-16 lead late on, but Wartburg did not go quietly. After trailing by seven, the Knights won six points in a row to get within one before kills by Miller and Van Scoyoc gave the Oles the set. St. Olaf trailed 15-10 midway through the fourth and was down 20-19 before winning six of the final seven points to force a fifth.

St. Olaf took a timeout down 11-8 in the fifth before getting kills from Miller and Rogers on either side of a Chirstophersen ace to pull even. Another kill by Miller tied the set at 12-12 and a third in quick succession saved a match point with Wartburg up 14-12, but Emerson Kracht ended the match with a kill for the hosts.